Counting The Cost Of Discipleship

Jesus doesn’t recruit fans. He calls disciples and Luke 14 makes that painfully clear. I read Scripture straight, then slow down long enough to ask what it actually demands from us: humility instead of chasing the best seat, generosity that isn’t looking for payback, and a loyalty to Christ that outranks comfort, reputation, and even our own plans.

We walk through the great banquet parable where the first invited guests make polite excuses, then we face the hard lines about counting the cost and carrying the cross. If you’ve ever wondered why faith can feel thin in modern life, Luke 14 gives one answer: we try to follow Jesus without giving anything up. I also read a marriage passage from 1 Corinthians 11 and talk about how even hearing Bible words out loud can spark backlash today, which says a lot about where our culture is headed.

From there, we turn to Psalm 80 as a national lament and a prayer for renewal, and I connect it to leadership and repentance through the American Patriots Bible, including 2 Chronicles 1:10 on wisdom and 2 Chronicles 7:14 on humility, prayer, and healing. I end with Proverbs on diligence, a few timely warnings from current events, and a closing prayer for our families, our communities, and our country.

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Transcript

Hard Words From Luke 14

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Luke 14, starting with verse 25. A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, If you want to be my my disciple, you must by comparison hate everyone else. Your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don't begin. Actually, I think that's as far as I'm going to go. We'll move on. July

Headline On Violence And Culture

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2025, York, UK. Woman was raped and sexually assaulted after being lured from a nightclub by Ied Anwar Fathi Najir, a failed asylum seeker who entered the UK illegally in 2022.

Welcome And Gratitude To Listeners

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Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are going well, wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Sure to appreciate you joining me. Giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it, thank you. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you very much. Very, very grateful for your prayers. Need them and want them.

Opening Prayer For Strength

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Father, thank you for this day.

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Thank you for you, Father, and your Son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Help us to do your will. Forgive us our sins. Guide our steps.

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Watch over those who are hurting and alone, abused and abandoned.

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Be with those listening to the podcast. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Bless their marriages and their families.

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Be with our military, our law enforcement, firefighters, EMS. Be with our educators across the land. Administrators, teachers, coaches, counselors, staff. Private school, public school. Be with those who homeschool. Mothers, fathers, men and women. Help us to raise the next generation. To know you and your son Jesus Christ. To know that that's the point of everything, Father. Forgive us when we get distracted by the things of this world. And God, my word to your Father, please. In your Son's name we pray.

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Amen.

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1

Marriage Verse And Modern Pushback

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Corinthians 11, 7 through 9, marriage verse for today. A man shouldn't have his head covered because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is man's glory. Man didn't have his origin from woman, but woman from man, and man wasn't created for the sake of woman, but the woman for the sake of the man.

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How much trouble do you think you would get in for merely reading that Bible verse inside churches today? And how sad is that?

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Luke

Humility And The Great Banquet

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14, 7 through 35. When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice. When you are invited to a wedding feast, don't sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, Give this person your seat. Then you will be embarrassed and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table. Instead take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, Friend, we have a better place for you. Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Then he turned to his host. When you put on a luncheon or a banquet, he said, Don't invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors, for they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you. Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the kingdom of God. What a great hope. Great promise. Jesus replied with this story. A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to tell the guests, Come, the banquet is ready. But they all began making excuses. One said, I have just bought a field and must inspect it, please excuse me. Another said, I have just bought five pairs of oxen and I want to try them out, please excuse me. Another said, I just got married, so I can't come. The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. After the servant had done this, he reported, There is still room for more. So his master said, Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come so that the house will be full. For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet. A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, If you want to be my disciple, you must by comparison hate everyone else. Your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even your own life. Otherwise you cannot be my disciple, and if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don't begin until you count the cost, for who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, There's the person who started that building and couldn't afford to finish it. Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors, to discuss whether his army of ten thousand could defeat the twenty thousand soldiers marching against him. And if he can't, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. Salt is good for seasoning, but if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away.

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Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.

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Please

Psalm 80 And A Nation’s Decline

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listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph's descendants like a flock. O God enthroned above the cherubim, display your radiant glory to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your mighty power. Come to rescue us. Turn us again to yourself, O God, make your face shine down upon us, only then will we be saved. O Lord God of Heaven's armies, how long will you be angry with our prayers? You have fed us with sorrow and make us drink tears by the bucket full. You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations, our enemies treat us as a joke. Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven's armies. Make your fight, your face shine down upon us, only then will we be saved. You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine. You drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land. How much does that sound like America, folks? You drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for us, we took root and filled the land. Our shade covered the mountains, our branches covered the mighty cedars. We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea. Our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River. But now, why have you broken down our walls so that all who pass by may steal our fruit?

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The wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it. That sounds like America today, too.

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We have people that act more like animals than human beings, destroying. Come back, we beg you, O God of heaven's armies, look down from heaven and see our plight. Take care of this grapevine that you yourself have planted for this son you have raised for yourself. For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies. May they perish at the sight of your frown. Strengthen the man you love, the choice, the son of your choice. Then we will never abandon you again. Revive us so we can call on your name once more. Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven's armies. Make your face shine down upon us, only then will we be saved.

Proverbs On Diligence And Life

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Proverbs twelve, twenty-seven through twenty-eight. Lazy people don't even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find. The way of the godly leads to life. That path does not lead to death. If

Book Recommendation And Support Requests

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you get a chance to check out Countryside, you're looking for a middle-grade fantasy series, kind of along the lines of Narnia, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Hobbit. This is the first book in the series. The Book of the Wise. It's a kind review, just a little bit of it by Brooke Newberry. The more I read, the more engrossed I became. It is a very interesting story. The readers who enjoyed Narnia, Inkhart, and the like will love. Countryside was so fun and inviting that I can't wait to venture back in the second book. It's a very kind review again by Brooke Newberry. If you get a chance, check it out. And if you enjoyed, if you'd leave a review somewhere online, I would appreciate it. Also, if you are getting something out of the podcast, if you would leave a review of that. And if you have five or ten dollars you can donate to support the podcast each month, there's a link in the show notes where you can do that. I would appreciate any or all of those.

Valor Record And A Warning From Britain

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For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in battle while with the 8th Army Corps on 25, 27, 29, March, and 4 April 1899. Accredited to New York, not awarded posthumously, born January 23rd, 1862, Crock Falls, New York, died july second, nineteen forty one, Bath, New York. Buried Wheeler Cemetery, M. H. Wheeler, New York, United States. Howard Major Buckley. Peterborough Grooming Gang, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK. Several girls aged twelve to sixteen were groomed, plied with alcohol and drugs, repeatedly raped and sexually exploited by a gang of nine men, Muslim from Pakistan and Somali. That sounds familiar in America, doesn't it? Yeah. You can't have peaceful coexistence with those ideologies, folks. Islam, leftism. It's impossible. All we're doing is trading our wives, daughters, and granddaughters. All right.

Presidents’ Oath Verses And National Prayer

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Wanted to read today. We haven't read these in a while, and I stumbled across them. Get a chance, it's a great book, by the way, American Patriots Bible. And one of the things that's great about it is it has what Bible verses the presidents could put their hands on. William McKinley put his hand on 2 Chronicles 1.10 as he took the presidential oath of office in 1897. 2 Chronicles 1.10 says, now give me wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people. For who can judge this great people of yours? That's a pretty good verse for a president to want to look to for his term in office. And then President Eisenhower, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan both put their hands on 2 Chronicles 7.14, uh Eisenhower, when he took the oath of office in 1953, and Reagan when he took the oath of office in both 81 and 85. 2 Chronicles 7.14 says, If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. That is definitely a prayer, a Bible verse that we need our presidents looking to, and senators and representatives and judges and governors and lawyers and admirals and generals looking to today. Our

Closing Prayer And Blessing

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Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, your marriages, if you're married. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.